“Make Sure It’s Done Before the End of the Year”

December 15, 2011

President Obama announced a plan today to guarantee minimum wage and overtime protection for in-home health care workers across the country. Speaking alongside a few of the nearly two million care workers who would benefit from the plan, the President said:

Today, we’re guaranteeing homecare workers minimum wage and overtime pay protection … We are going to make sure that over a million men and women in one of the fastest-growing professions in the country don’t slip through the cracks.

The President also took a moment to call on Congress to extend the payroll tax cut and long-term unemployment benefits before they leave for the holidays:

Congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren’t seeing their taxes go up by $1,000 and those who are out there looking for work don’t see their unemployment insurance expire.

There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to extend these items—the payroll tax cut, unemployment insurance—before the holidays. There’s no reason the government should shutdown over this. And I expect all of us to do what’s necessary in order to do the people’s business and make sure that it’s done before the end of the year.

Right now, President Obama’s payroll tax cut will keep $1,500 in the wallets of the typical middle-class family—stand with the President and let us know what this money would mean for you and your family.